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PINE BLUFF 



AND 



JFFF^ERSON COUNTV, 

ARKANSAS. 

Dcscriptipc 










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PUBLISHED BY 



Jefferson Qouuty Exposition 



AND BUREAU OF 



Immif^ratiop. 



Feb. 22, 1895. 



GRAPHIC PRINXrNG COMPANY, PINE BLUFF, ARK. 



JEFFERSOxN COUNTY EXPO- 
SITION AND BUREAU OF 
AGRICULTURE, MANUFAC- 
TURES AND lABIIGRATION. 

FEBRUARY 22, I895. 

W. I). JONKS, 

County and Probate Judge. 

J. M. LUCEY, 

Co. Com. of Exposition and Bureau. 

J. W. HOC.VGE, 

Manager and Secretary. 
Addres.s All Communications to 
JEFFERSON CO. t:XPOSITION, 
PINE BLUFF, ARKANSAS. 






H. P. HUGHES, 

COM. OF IMMIGRATION, 
'■C«TTON EELT ROUTE," 

ATLANTA) Ga. 



Jefferson County, 

ARKANSAS. 



l^UREAU OF ACiRICULTURE. MANUFACTURES 
AND BLMIGRATION. 



A SUPEM.EMENT TO THE WORLD'S FAIR EDI- 
TION OF OUR COUNTY PAMPHLET OF 
MAY. 1893. WHICH WILL RE 
SENT ON APPLICATION. 



This work treats of Jefferson County, her lands, soil, 
water ways, railroads; her various crops, her timber and re- 
sources in general, and is intended to be a brief reply to the 
many questions put by the farmer, mechanic, manuiacturer, 
capitalist and laborer. 

That the immigrant ma\- know that in casting his lot in 
the .South in the midst of Southern people, to the manner 
born, he will be among friends, we quote from the Boston 
Journal of Commerce: "The great prosperity of the South 
during the few past years, and especially the past eighteen 
months, when business in every other section of the country 
was almost at a stand still, seemed wonderful to contemplate. 
To those who are not acquainted in that section it is a great 
mystery how they have gone on building mills and establish- 
ing other new enterprises during this period. One ot the 
grand characteristics of the Southern people is their lo\'alty 
to their friends. If a gentleman is a friend to \'ou, it means 



that he will leave notliuig undone in your behalf, so long as 
you do not abuse that friendship. Any person who has 
ever accepted of a Southerner's hospitality never forgets it. 
It is not equaled anywhere. Neither is the loyalty of the 
Southern-born man to his section. He believes in the South, 
and no where else seems so pure and so sweet to him." 

Besides this Pamphlet and other smaller circulars we 
have an illustrated World's Fair County Pamphlet, any of 
which will be mailed upon application. We will take great 
pleasure in procuring printed matter about the State at large 
for those who so desire. Being a strictly public institution, 
under the supervision of the County Judge, and having no 
connection vvith any real estate agency, cur services and 
statements may be relied upon. 

Address all communications to 

jp:fferson county exposition. 

Pine Bluff, .\rk. 



Jefferson County is situated in Central Eastern iXrkan- 
sas; is twenty-nine miles square, lying between 34-and 34.40 
degrees North latitude and 91 and 91.40 degrees West 
longitude and is divided almost equally by the Arkansas 
nver, which tlows from the Northwest to the Southeast; has 
841 square miles of territory, or 538,240 acres, of which 
363,000 is alluvial bottoms and 175,000 is upland, inter- 
spersed with creek bottoms; 90,000 acres are in cultivation. 
The United States hold 15,000 acres, the Iron Mountain 
br<j.nch of the Missouri Pacific railroad holds 10,000 acre's. 




JEFFERSON COUNTY COURT HOUSE. 

and the State of .Arkansas an indefinite but large amount of 
I.ukN, forfeited to the State on account of non-payment of 
ta.xes and other non-compliance with the laws, all of which 
is subject to entry or donation. Thousands of acres are 
held b)' citizens for sale at reasonable prices, and on good 
terms, especially to immigrants. 

Drainage — When necessary, can be accomplished at 
small cost, the Arkansas river and numerous bayous and 
creeks offering ever\' facility for thorough drainage. 

VV'ater-ways — The Arkansas river has its source at the 
foot of the Rock)' Mountains and flows 2,OOo miles South- 
easter!}', emptying in the Mississippi 1 00 miles from the 







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western boundary of fefferson Counly, flowing diagonally 
thr(uigh the county; is navigable^ at all seasons to Pine JilulT, 
the Ca[)ital. exhibiting to the beholder a delta of alluvial 
lands without a parallel, extending east 175 miles b_\' river 
to the Mississippi through Jeffrrson, Lincoln, .Xrkansas and 
Desha counties. The delta extends south 100 miles to the 
Louisiana line, and from the north bank ot the .Arkansas 
river twenty miles to the Grand Prairie and 200 miles by the 
course of the river, offering to the immigrant lands as rich 
as the delta of the Nile, and equal in fertility to that of the 
Danube, with soil from ten to thirty feet deep, richly studded 
with a large variet\' of hard wood timber, every acre of 
which, properly m irketed, will pay for the land. Ba\'ou 
Bartholomew, flowing through the Southeastern section of 
the county, empties into the (Juachita river, flowing through 
lands equal in productiveness with those of the Arkansas 
valley. Plum Bayou, Bayou Metre and Bayou Wabbaseka 
flow diagonally through the Northern section of the county 
between the Arkansas river and Grand Prairie and nearly 
parallel with the river through as rich lands as the sun 
shine? on, susceptible of accommodating a large population. 
Noble, Horse Shoe, Swan, Dudley and Clear Lakes are 
bordered by the richest alluvial lands. 

Soil. — The alluvial or bottom lands por.sess a 
soil of one unbroken strata from ten to thirty feet 
deep, made up during the lapse of ages of the silt deposit of 
the river, a large acreage of which is a dark brown, resemb- 
ling clay and commonly known as buckshot land. These 
lands turned with the plow in winter are easily worked 
throughout the season and produce cotton of longest, finest 
and strongest fibre; wich good culture 50 to 60 bushels of 
corn to the acre. The half buckshot, made up of buckshot 
and a brown sandy loam, are the very best of alluvial lands, 
producing cotton, corn, rye, oats, barley and grasses. Sown 
in wheat will give a return of from 40 to 50 bushels; if sown 
in clover will }Meld two tons to the acre. The sweet gum 
lands are composed of a gray, sandy loam intermixed with 
vegetable mould, underla\'ed with a brown clay. On this 



hind is tlie home of the red gum tree, now soutjlit tor to 
supply the ploce of the now scarce Honduras mahogan) . 
This soil is very fertile;. .■\ll crops, fruits and vegetables be- 
longing to this latitute are prolitab'.e here. Th.e uplands are 
a surface ot loam with clay base, well calculated to hold 
fertilizers. Some of these uplands are of redish cast and 
second only in fertility to the best alluvial lands. The tim- 
ber for the m 3st part are pine, oak, hickory and dogwood. 
Here is the home of the Ouachita grape. The Scuppernong, 
Concord, Ives Seedling and Norton Virginia are grown 
profitably. Soil climate and I ly of the land are well cal- 
culated for extensive vineyards. The fruit grower will find 
these uplands adapted to the growth of a goodly variety of 
apples, pears, peaches and plums, as well as a large variety 
of berries, such as Raspberries, Strawberries, IViackberries, 
Gooseberries, etc. Here he can create for himself and 
family a beautiful home. 

THE V.\RIOUS CROPS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY. 

The cotton crop has heretofore held the first claim of 
the tiller of the soil to prominence. Jefterson county cot- 
ton stands superior to all other cottons of the world, having 
won the prize against the world's exhibit for both long and 
short staple at the Wold's Fair; growing luxuriantly and 
producing abundantly, is a beautiful crop from start to finish. 
No plant in any clime or country is so completely absorbed 
and in all its parts made so useful. The many uses of its 
lint or fiber is well known. Its seed is converted into oil, 
its oil cake into stock food, and is the best fertilizer known; 
its seed hulls into stock food and fuel and is also largely used 
for fertilization; its leaves and root into medicine; its bark 
into cord and rope, and its stalk into pulp for making paper. 
Jefferson county lands are well adapted for the culture of 
corn of every variety, the alluvial lands producing from 40 to 
50 bushels; with- close attention and thorough tillage, from 
60 to 80 bushels. The uplands produce with good culture 
from 20 to 30 bushels. No effort at fertilizing has been 
made. With proper fertilizers, and thorough cultivation 
the yield can be doubled. It is a mista,ke to assume that 



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wliciit and cotton arc incompatible. There are no liner lands 
t\)r wheat than the half buckshot of Jefferson County. A 
yield of 46 bushels to the acre has been the result of fair 
wheat culture. With best culture the wheat crop. will rival 
that of California. R\'e and oats are native to the soil, 
irrowinef wild in some sections cf alluvial lands. Under cul- 
ture no section produces more abundantly. Barley and rice 
are a sure crop. The millets on alluvial soil yield abund- 
antly and is the cheapest stock food Clover yields two 
tons. The grasses, Timothy, Orchard, Redtop, do finely. 
Sorgum yields 1 00 gallons; field peas, 50 bushels; Irish 
potatoes, 200 bushels; sweet potatoes, 400 bushels; onions, 
500 bushels; turnips, 800 bushels per acre. Vegetable 
gaidens are maintained the year round. Floweis bloom in 
November. 

Timber— Every variety of timber native to the temper- 
ate zone is found in Jefferson County. Of building timber, 
largely occupying the service of saw mills, are forests of pine 
and cypress, inviting the attention of the lumbermen; of 
hard-wood timber, white, red, black, cane and Spanish oak, 
occupy a large acreage it^teresting to the wagon, barrel, tub, 
and wine-pipe manufacturers; red, white, and blue gum for 
furniture; hickory and ash for pick and axe-handles, tele- 
graph-pins and cross-arms; lin and cotton-wood for wood 
pulp. It is no longer necessary to go to the Orient for box- 
wood for weaver's shuttles; persimmon, dogwood and bois 
d'arc make better shuttles, supplying 80 per cent, of the 
shuttles of 1893. Large quantities of these woods are found 
in Jefferson county, not yet encroached upon. 

Traxsport.\tiox. — Facilities for transporting the 
various productions of Jefferson county to the markets and 
the necessary passenger travel are the Arkansas river and 
three lines of railway. The Arkansas Valley branch of the 
Missouri Pacific, traversing the county from Northwest to 
Southeast on the south side of the Arkansas river, connect- 
ing the lines centering in St. Louis with those of New Or- 
leans and the Gulf of Mexico. The St. Louis Southwestern, 
or Cotton Belt railway, enters the county on its Northeastern 



— lo 

boundary, traversing to the Southwest, connecting the lines 
centering at Cairo with those of Texas and Mexico. These 
railroads pass through the city of Pine Bluff, the Capital of 
Jefferson County. The Pine Bluff and Eastern, extending 
from the Cotton Belt at Rob Roy bndge thirty-five miles 
through the Kings Bayou settlement, traversing the finest 
farming lands of which the country can boast. Other lines 
are projected and will no doubt be built in the near future. 
Thus it is seen that the markets are accessible from any 
part of Jefferson county. 

Manufactures — The City of Pine Bluff and other points 
situated on the Arkansas Valley branch of the M. & P., and 
of the Cotton Belt Railroads, offer facilities for a variety of 
manufactures. With an abundance of pure water, and fore^ 
material for a paper pulp manufactory for making paper, 
cotton factories planted in the midst of cotton fields, produc- 
ing cotton fibre fine as silk and strong as wire, winning the 
prize for long and short staple cotton at the World's Fair 
over all other cotton — these and similar ones will pay hand- 
some dividends. Wagon and agricultural implement facto- 
ries, with the raw material at the door, costing less than half 
of that in the Northern and Easteri? States, invite investment 
of capital. No part of the Union offers a more inviting field 
tor the manufacture of telegraph and telephone pins and 
cross-arms than Pine Bluff. Many tons of hides are shipped 
to Northern States to be manufactured into leather, when 
the torests of Jefferson County sustain agrovvth of oak bark 
sufficient for the supply of a dozen tanneries for man}^ years. 
The forest abounds in red gum, oak, ash and other woods 
suitable for the finest furniture. A furniture factory at Pine 
Bluff would be a paying institution. Other manufactories 
could be conducted with profit, such as wooden-ware of 
every description, brick for building, for which the clay of 
Jefferson county is known to be of superior quality. Pot- 
ter's clay of fine quality is also found in several spots, and a 
pottery on an extensive scale would pay well. The citizens 
of Pine Bluff and of Jefferson County are specially anxious 
t(^ induce the establishment of factories and stand ready to 
aid such enterprises in every possible manner. A Manu- 



— 1 1 — 

ufactur?.s League, eoinposed of the most prominent men of 
the city anci county, has been organized for that very purpose. 

The immigrant to Jefferson County, from wiiatever 
State, Territory or foreign land he may come, will nieet a 
hearty welcome. He will find large tracts of the richest 
alluvial deposit in the world, upon which he can make sure 
of an abundant crop. He will also find beautiful rolling up- 
lands, on which he can reap a prolific harvest of the cereals, 
vegetables, fruit.s, berries and grapes, from which is ex- 
pressed the finest wines. He will find as pure freestone 
water as was ever quaffed by man. He will find health, as 
the mortuary report is only 14^ to the 1,000. With 
energy, industry and reasonable financial ability he can build 
for himself a beautiful and delightful home. He will be 
out of reach of excessive drouth and intense frost and snow. 
He can become possessed of every home luxury known to 
a farmer's life. 

He will also find several towns of considerable size in 
the county and one city of 15,000 inhabitants — Pine Bluff — 
at the head of low water navigation on the Arkansas river, 
the center of distribution of merchandise and trade 
for ten counties, with its system of water works, 
sewerage, electric lights, street railways, paved 
streets and handsome public and private buildings. He will 
find a system of public and private schools equal to the best. 
The free schools have ample means for their support four 
months in the country and nine months in the city. There 
are a large number of -private schools in the county. The 
most prominent are Annunciation Academy of the Sisters of 
Charity of Nazareth and Prof, Jordan's Academy for boys. 
Each are in Pine Bluff. By a provision of law white and 
colored pupils are taught in separate schools. He will have 
the privilege of worshiping according to his creed, as 
churches of all denominations are found in the country, as 
well as town and city, ample to accommodate all. Four 
newspapers are published in Pine Bluff, two daily and weekly 
and two weekly. 

In the city of Pine Bluff he will find ice, cotton seed oil, 
sash, door and blind, stave, carriage, broom and foundry and 



other factories. Throuijh fort)^ post-offices established in 
the county he can communicate with the world. He will 
find taxes limited to ^1.50 on the $100 outside the corporate 
limits and $2.10 in the city. He will find good and whole- 
some laws rigidly enforced. We invite you to come and 
see for yourselves. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
014 610 501 4 I 



